Guts Over Fear ◇ NIKITA

Basement of Ghosts

Alys laid against the wall beside her door and breathed heavily through her mouth. Michael had kicked her ass without actually kicking her ass. He kept her on her toes, hardly alloting her a moment of rest before they continued on sparring. Alys could mostly only keep up with Michael defensively, each time she tried to gain the upper hand he came at her with ten times the amount of stamina she had.

She had a stitch in her side and was limping a bit, she could feel the bruise forming on her upper left thigh. The worst part of it all was that her current condition only proved how much she needed this training. In a real fight, she could only defend for so long before someone, whether it be her or her opponent, made a kill strike. It was fun at first, like when they were Recruits and he helped her start pulling her own weight, but Michael's skills had greatly improved since then, making him a little harder to keep up with. Like the first time they trained together, she still wasn't sure how she managed to hold her own for as long as she had.

All she did know was that she was in desperate need of sleep. Without bothering to change, Alys laid on top of her bkankets and whimpered as she moved into a comfortable position. Once she found one, she stilled and closed her eyes, falling asleep not a minute later.

Alys opened her eyes, surprised to find herself in her apartment. Stretching her arms, she was surprised again to find that the bed was still warm in the empty space. Slowly, she got up and walked out of the bedroom. There was a small creak of the floor, Alys's head spinning in that direction before she silently followed it. There was a smaller guest room she never used, so when she walked into the doorway and saw Noah standing over a bassinette, a chubby lump of flesh cradeled in his arms, she froze.

He looked up and smiled, turning his attention to the baby. "You weren't supposed to wake up Mommy, little man," he laughed. Slowly and keeping her arm over her stomach, Alys walked over, studying the fluffy black hair on the baby's head, her heart skipping a beat when Noah turned towards her and she met the baby's eyes, identical to her own. "At least now you get what you want." Holding his arms out to her, Noah handed the baby to Alys, her hands carefully taking the fragile bundle into her own arms.

The baby giggled and took hold of her hair, a toothless grin on it's chubby little cheeks. She closed her eyes when Noah pressed his lips to her forehead. "You did so good, Alys. I'm so proud of you," he whispered lovingly.

"Be proud of us," she corrected. "I didn't make him on my own."

"You did all the hard parts," Noah reminded. "You were strong enough to carry him around for nine months, both of you making it through the birth with no problems is amazing." With a growing smile, Alys brought the baby to her chest, squeezing him as much as she dared. "I love you," he whispered, pressing a lingering kiss to her cheek.

She could feel the words building up in her chest, the need to get the words out causing a physical discomfort. They were on her tongue, only needing the striking of vocal chords--

Alys woke up with a jolt, her heart racing for a moment before falling to a steady pace. It seemed even her own body wouldn't allow her to be happy; she had been too relaxed, too content with her dream, her heart slowed way down and then it jump started itself, waking her up and keeping her alive. Unlike Noah and her baby.

There were tear tracks on her cheeks, she noticed, as she hastily wiped at them with trembling hands. Her dreams weren't making this any easier for her and she just needed them to stop. Despite not being at work as frequently as she should have, today was her regularly scheduled day off and, for the first time in a long time, she wanted to take her pent up emotions out through her fists.

Pulling herself out of bed, she realized how sore she was, but that was what she was hoping for. She wanted to replace her emotional pain with physical. The healthiest way to do that would be to strengthen her muscles. While she dressed herself, she took notice of the dark bruise roughly the size of Michael's shin on her leg. Pushing past the pain, Alys made her way to the more closed off training rooms.

She was hoping she'd get to spar will someone, and when she walked in she saw Alex in the middle of the training mat. She was sat down and rubbing her wrist, the splint laying within arms reach. "The swelling worsens when you take the brace off," Alys informed as she walked over. "How does it feel?"

"It still hurts but the pills help." Alex held out her hand so the blonde could examine it again, her fingers gently turning her wrist over.

"It looks fine. Today's my day off so you'll have to see Dr. Hanson if you want anything more than my opinion," Alys informed. "Although its good to let your arm breathe, its better to keep it supported. Get the splint back on soon."

"Thanks," Alex muttered, her eyes calculating as if she were contemplating Nikita's ulterior motives, the same look Alys knew came to her own eyes. After rewrapping her own wrist, Alex stood up and gave her a smile. "I have class," she excused with a short wave before walking back the way Alys had came. With a soft sigh, she moved to one of the heavier punching bags and got to work.

She hadn't been kicking and punching a sandbag for long when she felt someone behind her, snapping around and letting the bag sway as she studied Michael. His face was hard, impassive, he looked the way he had when Alys first met him; broken. "I'm glad to see you're still up for training after yesterday," he mumbled with a try at humor.

"Is everything alright?" she softly asked, his attempt failing miserably.

"I'm taking an administravtive leave, fourty-eight hours. Just wanted to make sure you'll be able to keep up while I'm gone. Cleary, you've got yourself handled." The corner of Alys' lips pulled up in a sympathetic smile, knowing that whatever was rattling him, she was the last person he'd share it with.

"Take it easy, and not just on your shoulder, yeah?" she suggested lightly.

"Sure thing, Dr. Gordon," he lightly chuckled. He hadn't turned all the way around before his pleasant air dropped, and Alys couldn't help but notice the haunted look that came over him. It reminded her too much of their Recruit days for comfort.